Something I read yesterday, it seems relevant here.
The Narcissist’s Prayer
That didn’t happen
And if it did, it wasn’t that bad
And if it was, that’s not a big deal
And if it is, that’s not my fault
And if it was, I didn’t mean it
And if I did, you deserved it.
On the mark. Ouch.
He also called on his supporters to lay down their lives to fight against critical race theory, because it’s a matter of national survival.
He also said that “when” he becomes President again, he’s going to do away with civil service and make all government employees work at the whim of the President.
That is certainly on-the-nose on the topic of Trump’s appeal to his fans: White Supremacy today, White Supremacy tomorrow, White Supremacy forever!
That’s what they’re sending him their life-savings to accomplish, after all.
It didn’t turn out well for the last guy who said that.
I’d sure like to know when this asshole is going to be held responsible for the shit he says. I’d guess never, while the gullible who act on it go to jail. No one wins here.
Sorry, but every single jerk who gets sent to jail for some stupid stunt they did in support of or at the behest of that asshole is a win for the good side.
After he is dead, he’ll be a real piece of shit in the history books.
Don’t expect him to face any direct consequences in his lifetime.
That this fucking insurrectionist is free to continue to rile up his knuckledraggers is depressing as hell. And I don’t think he’ll ever be indicted, much less convicted, of anything. I wish I was wrong. At least something that would disqualify him from office would be nice, but that requires conviction, no?
Pisses me off that democrats are dragging their feet about his obvious crimes. I think some are worried that republicans will double down on their obstruction and fake investigations if they so much as slap the assholes hand.
Doesn’t matter, they will anyway. You can’t ignore the rabid dogs in your house because you are afraid they will get mad at you.
True. But of course he didn’t have the support of a Murdoch-level media empire, convincing a large proportion of Americans that “segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever” was perfectly acceptable.
100% they will.
With all the world events taking up the news coverage that used to be devoted to obstructionists Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin, we haven’t been hearing the 'we don’t dare touch the filibuster because if we do it won’t be there to protect us when we’re in the minority’ crapola they are fond of dishing out.
I can’t say I miss it. (But you know they’re likely still dishing that out now, on those occasions when local news outlets want to interview them.)
Then of course there’s Merrick “I’ll prosecute militias but not Republican office-holders” Garland, who no doubt adheres to the ‘we can’t investigate them because then they’d investigate us!’ bush-wa. (Prove me wrong, Mr. AG!!!)
Actually Garland’s claim seems is that you go after the small fish to work your way up to the big fish. Whether or not you believe him on that is up to you, but I don’t see that he has done anything inconsistent with that.
If he’s gonna do that, I sure wish he’d step up the pace, or we’ll be deep into the next presidential campaign.
I know he said that, and I think he was being disingenuous. They have been working their way up to the militia leadership, but I still see absolutely no indication that they have any intention of targeting the political actors that fomented the riot (with one exception)*.
If they were, I think we would’ve seen evidence of that by now. No matter how discreet the DOJ is, the people they are investigating are not discreet and if they subpoenaed information, sent target letters or tried to interview witnesses I think we would’ve heard the howls.
And we know that the partisan Federalist Society hack in charge of the FBI has no intention of investigating any Republican politician involved in the insurrection. He has said publicly that he doesn’t really see a clear connection between Trump’s election loss and the insurrection, when he was asked about such a connection the exact quote was Its a little hard for me to characterize with a broad brush all those people and what motivated each of them. He has also referred to the entire Stop The Steal movement as scattered online chatter. He’s corrupted, he’s in on it, and he should be replaced. He should’ve been fired on the basis of the events that lead to January 6th.
This is where my biggest disagreements with Biden are. He’s so desperate for normalcy he’s pretending everything is normal……meanwhile his government is filled with alleged non-political Trump appointees. This is why we can’t get justice for the attempt to abridge my civil right to cast a vote that counts. It’s also why he gets destroyed in the media over bad economic numbers which later are quietly revised because they were actually really really good, but that’s another story.
No one will ever be held accountable. We will never get justice, and that is the failure that will probably make Biden a one term President.
*They have started some sort of investigation on Sidney Powell, but my sense is that investigation is about the fact she was fundraising for some amount of time before she set up the organizations that made it legal for her to solicit money, and nothing else.
Well, here’s some promising news.
Likelihood of criminal charges against Trump rising, experts say.
It’s a left-leaning source so clearly has an optimistic spin, but the new development (well, a couple weeks ago, but people have been distracted) is that the House committee investigating the mob attack has filed legal documents saying that they believe Trump engaged in criminal conspiracy. This is in the context of his former attorney John Eastman trying to refuse to testify based on attorney-client privilege; they are, for the first time, telling a Federal court that this should not apply because Trump and Eastman were engaged in a criminal conspiracy. The filing contains 61 pages of supporting evidence.
Of course, that doesn’t mean the DoJ will actually press charges, but this seems like a significant development.
And although it’s only been used against the actual thugs so far, the DoJ’s willingness to charge people specifically with seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6 attacks certainly seems like an encouraging precedent.
I’ve been saying since shortly after Jan. 6 that that charge seems to fit the occasion quite well.
Me too.
This is the thing. Everything Garland has said that has been quoted by the ‘it’s all going to be okay’ believers can mean ONLY ‘we’ll prosecute those at the top of the militias’ and NOT ‘we’ll prosecute the office-holders and appointees who planned this.’ For example, from his 5 January 2022 speech:
There’s nothing there that means ‘we’re going beyond the Proud Boys and the Oathkeepers.’ Nothing–except wishful thinking.
As for Garland’s disingenuity–I listened to that 1/5/22 speech live, and I remember thinking less of him when he said
The clear implication: ‘those criticizing me are naïve or stupid or think things happen instantly–or they are partisans who clamor for persecution of their foes in defiance of the rule of law–so their criticism has no value or credibility.’
Very, very disingenuous.
Yes. This is the problem with the ‘Garland is working his way up to the big fish’ argument: how could a genuine investigation let more than a year go by without talking to those closest to the Big Fish? How is that good practice?
And again: if he’d talked to them, we’d know. How many of Trump’s people are known for their discretion, maturity, and self-control? Seriously, how many?
The 1/5/22 speech, from a transcript posted at DOJ:
I watched Frontline on Monday night and they had a piece about the Ukraine war (oddly, no mention of windmills) and how Putin got to where he is. They showed a clip from the Helsinki press conference when Trump backed Putin over U.S. intelligence agencies regarding election interference. The narrator mentioned how Putin got everything he ever wanted - a U.S. leader saying he was right and the U.S. was wrong. They focused on Putin and was actually glowing. He almost never smiles and that grin belonged to the happiest man in the world. And here we are. Fuck you Trump. And your sycophants, too.